0671 Fluorite, High Skears Mine, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale, North Pennines, Co. Durham, England, UK

Composed of honey yellow cubic fluorite crystals with inky blue color zone exterior edge phantoms. The specimen comes from the High Skears Mine, Middleton-in-Teesdale, Middleton, North Pennines, County Durham, England, UK. It measures 6.5×5.0x2.8cm in size, weighs 72 grams, and hosts cubic fluorite crystals reaching 1.0cm in maximum diameter. The fluorite is also nicely fluorescent purple under shortwave UV light. The High Skears Mine is located on the eastern side of Hudeshope Valley and mined mineralized ground in the Great Limestone on the Walton’s and Graham’s veins. The mine is an old timer with initial production between 1845 and 1862 yielding 3890 tons of lead concentrates. Apparently, most of the mineralized area was exhausted by 1862, although the mine continued sporadic ore extraction up until its final closing in 1881, but between 1863 and 1881 only 10 tons of ore was produced.